Transcript for Egypt Descends Into Anarchy; Protesters Barricaded in Mosque

Now to egypt tonight where this evening after what was called the day of rage yesterday, the tense standoff centered on a cairo mosque. They're protecting supporters of ousted president. Abc's muhammad lila reports again from cairo tonight on the crisis in egypt. Reporter: The life and death standoff played out on live television. Hundreds of protesters, including women, barricaded in a mosque. This afternoon, police made their move. An explosion at the entrance, then more gunfire. amid the chaos, no way of knowing who was shooting at who. Who are all these people in the crowd? It was very hard to tell, it was a very chaotic situation. Reporter: This egyptian american, was at the siege, filming this footage on his phone. Egypt has been on a slow moving train wreck right now. Now it's more like we're headed for a high-speed collision. Reporter: Today, the egyptian government stood its ground, calling this a war against extremism. Despite the bloody crackdown, the obama administration still views egypt as too important of an ally to give up. Egypt allows u.S. Aircraft to fly over its territory usually without any restrictions -- crucial to the u.S. Mission -- in afghanistan -- and it allows u.S. Warships to skip to the front of the line during times of crisis at the crowded suez canal. David, the government has imposed a nighttime curfew here in egypt. Already thousands of people are defying that curfew. Another sign that things have quickly spiralled out of

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